Unit 3: Founding Documents · Chapter 12
Early American Governments
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Between independence and the Constitution, Americans experimented with government. States wrote constitutions, and the nation tried a loose confederation. Both experiences, successes and failures alike, directly shaped the Constitution of 1787.
The Massachusetts Constitution (1780)
Massachusetts voters rejected a 1778 draft constitution that the legislature had written. They insisted on a special convention. Delegates elected for that sole purpose met in 1779, and John Adams drafted most of the document. It was then sent to the towns for approval and took effect in 1780. This process of a convention chosen for the purpose and ratification by the people became the model for how the U.S. Constitution would be made. The Massachusetts Constitution is the oldest written constitution still in effect in the world.
Key features
- A declaration of rights first: "All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness." In the Quock Walker cases (1781–83), Massachusetts courts relied on this language in rulings that led to the end of slavery in the state.
- Strict separation of powers: each branch shall never exercise the others' powers, "to the end it may be a government of laws and not of men."
- Bicameral legislature (Senate and House of Representatives).
- A strong, elected governor with a veto that two-thirds of the legislature could override. That became the model for the presidential veto.
- An independent judiciary, with judges serving during good behavior.
- A role for public education, including support for Harvard and for schools.
Influence: Much of the U.S. Constitution's structure resembles it: bicameralism, a single executive with a qualified veto, independent judges with tenure, and checks and balances. Its declaration of rights also shaped the national Bill of Rights.
Check yourself
- John Adams; 1780; written by a special convention and ratified by the people.
- Strong governor with veto, bicameral legislature, independent judges: a model for the U.S. Constitution.
The Articles of Confederation (1781)
The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles in 1777. The main drafter was John Dickinson. Ratification required all thirteen states. Maryland held out until larger states gave up their claims to western lands, so the Articles took effect on March 1, 1781. They created "a firm league of friendship" among sovereign states:
"Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled."
Articles of Confederation, Article II
Structure
The Articles created only a unicameral Congress. Each state had one vote regardless of size, and states sent 2 to 7 delegates. There was no separate executive and no national court system. Important measures required 9 of 13 states. Amendments required unanimous consent.
Why so weak?
The Articles flowed directly from the Declaration's fears. Having just rebelled against a distant, powerful king and Parliament, Americans distrusted centralized power and executive authority. The Articles kept power close to the people in the states.
| Strengths and achievements | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Won the Revolutionary War and negotiated the Treaty of Paris (1783) | Congress could not tax. It could only request money from states, which often refused. |
| Passed the Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787 | Congress could not regulate interstate or foreign commerce. States taxed each other's goods. |
| Could make war and peace, conduct diplomacy, coin money, and run a postal service | No national army except troops requested from states; no executive to enforce laws; no national courts |
| Protected state sovereignty; created a sense of union | One vote per state regardless of population; 9 of 13 for major laws; unanimity for amendments |
| States and Congress both printed money, creating economic chaos |
Shays' Rebellion (1786–87) showed that the national government could not keep order. Massachusetts had to raise a privately funded militia to suppress it. Leaders called the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which replaced the Articles with a stronger, federal system. See Chapter 9.
Lessons the Constitution applied: give Congress power to tax and regulate commerce; create an executive and federal courts; make federal law supreme; base representation partly on population; and allow amendment by three-fourths of the states, not unanimity.
Check yourself
- Ratified 1781; one vote per state; unicameral; no executive or courts.
- Couldn't tax or regulate commerce; amendments needed unanimity.
- Achievement: Northwest Ordinance. Failure exposed by Shays' Rebellion.
The Northwest Ordinances (1784, 1785, 1787)
After the Revolution, the states ceded their claims to land north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania to the national government. Congress under the Articles passed three ordinances to organize it, its most lasting achievements.
| Ordinance | What it did |
|---|---|
| Land Ordinance of 1784 | Drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson. It proposed dividing the western lands into future states that would join the Union as equals. It was never put into effect but established the principle. |
| Land Ordinance of 1785 | Created a system for surveying and selling the land: townships 6 miles square, divided into 36 sections of one square mile (640 acres) each. One section in every township was reserved for public schools. Land sales raised money for the national government. |
| Northwest Ordinance of 1787 | Created a government for the Northwest Territory and a three-stage path to statehood. A territory could apply for statehood once it had 60,000 free inhabitants, joining "on an equal footing with the original States." It provided for 3 to 5 future states. |
The Northwest Ordinance's rights provisions
- Religious freedom, habeas corpus, trial by jury, and protections for property and contracts. In effect, it was a bill of rights for the territories before the U.S. Bill of Rights existed.
- Slavery banned: "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes." The language was later echoed in the 13th Amendment.
- Education: "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."
- Native Americans: "The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent." In practice, that pledge was often broken.
Significance: The ordinances set the pattern by which the U.S. expanded. New states would be equal partners, not colonies. The Northwest Territory became Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. The new Congress re-enacted the Northwest Ordinance in 1789, and Article IV gives Congress the power to admit new states.
Check yourself
- 1785: survey grid of townships, with land reserved for schools. 1787: territorial government and a path to equal statehood.
- The 1787 Ordinance banned slavery in the Northwest Territory and encouraged education.
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